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>> Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Overall comment: Good meal at a cozy diner! And it's a "featured diner" too!Halal: I don't think so...

This was my last dinner at San Francisco during my last trip to the US. My cousin & I decided to pop-by Mel's as we couldn't find a parking spot anywhere else. Mel's Drive-In seems to look decent & they have ample parking space in the busy city of San Francisco.

The 1st Drive-In at San Francisco...

We had no idea what's good at San Francisco & we were kinda hungry & tired. All we wanted was a good meal after a long day of driving & walking around. Since Mel's looks decent, we just decided to pop-by, not knowing whether it's a good place to dine or not.

The branch where we had our dinner

To our surprise, Mel's is actually a VERY popular diner! That's how much we know San Francisco....hahaha. The place was packed, even when we arrived there around 9+pm local time!

Typical diner look & feel :D

They had really old songs playing as well! NICE! So classic...

Simple, yet extensive menu

Guess who was here before...?

It's Guy Fieri, host of "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives"!

So yes, this is ONE popular & featured place by Guy...woohoo! We actually landed at a REALLY famous diner! *pleased*

Since we're at a typical American diner, I had to try their chili fries! Knowing that the American portion is large, we decided to order for sharing. We couldn't finish everything even when we shared! Yeap, the portions were generous :)

Debbie's Homemade Texas Chili (USD 7.45/bowl; USD 5.75/cup)

American fries topped with chili & served with onions & grated cheese "Mel's family recipe".

Loved the chili fries although it was really filling. We should have ordered a cup...hahaha....fries in slightly spicy chili sauce...yums :)

Since we weren't VERY hungry (we were more tired than hungry), we decided to order the turkey for sharing. It felt like Christmas. I was expecting roast turkey in a "brown" look, but it came out "white"! Something really different from my imaginations. The stuffing was quite interesting as well since it's actually bread! I love the cranberry sauce that came with the turkey. Simple, yet delicious dish :) The turkey was tender & juicy...true comfort food after a long day.

>> Wednesday, July 24, 2013

I've been terribly busy that I didn't have time to even finish up my blog posts on my last trip to the US in May! I have not even started anything on the trip to Cambodia & I'm feeling quite lazy to even do a write-up on Cambodia now...hahaha. To add to the load, there's a Jakarta blog post pending as well. Ah, time to start somewhere again...

Here's one of the last few posts on my last trip to the US...
**********Overall comment: Really generous portion for the price paid! Looks delicious, tastes yummy & very pocket-friendly!Halal: No

After having tried every other American food, my cousin brought me to his favourite Vietnamese restaurant in town. It's a simple restaurant with no fancy name nor interior design, but it sure serves good, comfy food for the hungry!

"No forks in the house..chopsticks only" :P Truly Asian!

The restaurant

From the 1st look, I'm reminded of a foodcourt back in Malaysia/Singapore. Nothing fancy at all & most of the customers are Vietnamese.

Extensive menu

Prices are pretty reasonable & if you're not that hungry, even the small will be quite a lot to finish up.

Sides of beansprouts, jalapeno, mint leaves, & lime

You HAVE TO add these to your pho! It brings it to another level of yummy-ness! :D

This was very filling! It doesn't feel like an appetizer/side order when you order a bowl of Pho as well! The peanut sauce that came with it was very fragrant. I loved it!

My Pho - Dac Biet ($5.95/serving)

Only in 1 size i.e. medium, this bowl of noodles was HUGE! It comes with a combo of rare slices of steak, well-done brisket, flank & tripe. Oolala...SO delicious!

Fresh whole coconut

It's not that easy to get a fresh whole coconut in Fresno/California. Unlike Malaysia, most coconut drinks here aren't served whole...ah, this is such an Asian thing, right?

This place is a must-try if you're around Fresno. There are many Vietnamese restaurants serving Pho in California, but this one's my cousin's favourite. I reckon you've to try it for yourself to find out ;)

>> Thursday, July 4, 2013

Overall comment: Intense flavour with real durian pulp/flesh as well! The only down-side that got me slightly disappointed was the "melting-rate" - it melts really fast compared to other ice-cream potong!Halal: Yes

Remembering the good old days...

I'm sure most of us could recall some lovely memories where we can get ice-cream potong from the ice-cream man during the evenings. I grew up with ice-cream potong that's wrapped in simple, thin, ice-cream wrapper that has nothing fanciful. But at this present day, ice-cream potong has revolutionized into something more classy, yet classic as well :) This isn't my 1st time having the King's ice-cream potong. I think I've had the Red Bean & Black Glutinous Rice variants before...

King's Potong aims to bring all its supporters a trip down memory lane with its improved version of the ice-cream potong. The one that I would be reviewing below is the King's Durian-Flavoured Ice-Cream Potong, which has a new packaging design & a more intense durian taste with real durian puree. According to King's, it's almost like eating a frozen durian fruit itself!

Hmmm....let's find out...

The package that I received for the review

Doesn't this "scene" remind you of the good old days?

The new packaging for the King's Durian-flavoured ice-cream potong

After taking some time (like 5 minutes) to snap some photos, these are my observations:

The ice-cream potong melts really fast! It's just 5 minutes out of the ice-box & it started melting already. Hmm...I didn't expect it to melt THAT quickly. I even changed the ice-cream & took the other one from the freezer (as photographed below) to sink my teeth into the ice-cream, but even the one from the freezer melted quite fast. You would be able to notice that the top of the ice-cream potong in the photo below looks "melt-ish". When I started licking, it melted even faster & I had to bite the ice-cream chunk after chunk to quickly finish it up. I was contemplating to put it into a bowl & use a spoon! I don't recall having such quick-melting ice-cream potong last time...hmmm...

As the King's Potong series is made with real coconut milk, the ice-cream potongs have a delicious home-made flavour. I guess that's why it melted so fast as well. I don't think coconut milk stays "frozen" for a long time. Bear in mind that having real coconut milk would mean a more fragrant ice-cream, but more fattening as well...haha...

I love theintense durian flavour & the bits of real durian in this sneaky, simple-looking ice-cream potong. It looks plain, but when I started licking it up & biting on it, oooooh, it does feel like eating frozen durian, but it's more creamy & not as "fibre-ish". I would still prefer the actual frozen durian fruit, but this is actually quite a good treat, especially when it's not durian season.

My only put-off is the "melting rate". Apart from that, I think this is a pretty good ice-cream potong!

Overall comment: Simple burgers that calls out to those who love their burgers WITHOUT the usual lettuce, tomatoes, or cucumbers! Their burgers emphasizes more on slaws/coleslaws + fried omelette - complete meal with carbs, protein, & some vitamins from the slaw ;)Halal: Pork-free; haven't processed halal certification

Work hard, play hard, chomp even harder!

One of the latest burger joints in town is Big Chomp Burger! It is opened as a joint venture by 3 friends who loves burgers, where 1 is the main business brainer (Adrian), 1 is the chef (Josiah), while the other is a Korean investor friend (I didn't manage to find out his name).With the many burger joints mushrooming in Klang Valley, I'm sure you'll be wondering, what's so special with this burger joint that's different from the rest? As the latest addition to the competitive burger race, Big Chomp aims to satisfy their customers with simple, delectable burgers without the usual lettuce, tomatoes, & cucumbers! It's like good news to meat-lovers, eh? They're more into coleslaw as their "veggie" & fried-egg/omelette is found in almost every burger available here!

Less than a month old (it was opened for business since 12th June 2013), Big Chomp is celebrating its birth with an "Awesome Opening Promotion", where every purchase of a burger comes with a free drink & fries! It's the best time to try this newbie out!! :D

Business Hours

Students, working adults, & people from all walks of life will be able to enjoy a good meal here at Big Chomp almost the whole day with a 2 hours break for the staff here....

Really cute tag-line: Work Hard, Play Hard, Chomp Even Harder!

Their little mascot(s) are REALLY cute!

Conducive Dining Environment

You won't find yourself in a stuffy, smoky burger joint as the restaurant is built with sufficient space for good air-circulation.

Their Current Menu

They offer a decent variety of burgers, but it's bound to expand & change ;) So pop-by whenever you can & check out their Facebook page for new burgers/promotions!

Big Chomp team busy cooking up the burgers

Fries (free for now)

I prefer fries from other burger joints, but these aren't too bad. There's room for improvement, for sure :)

Burgers at Big Chomp comes in 2 burger bun variety (recipes come from Big Chomp's chef, Josiah.) i.e. charcoal bun & white sesame seed bun, all home-baked by a friend as their restaurant doesn't have enough space for them to have ovens to bake the buns in-house. I personally prefer the charcoal bun as I find it softer & the texture's more "fluffy" compared to the white sesame seed bun.

Here's what they offer...

Chicken Burgers:

Flossy Chick (RM13.00 nett/burger)

Grilled chicken, cheese, caramelized onions, flossy omelette

One of their best-sellers is the Flossy Chick. It's also the 1st burger that I managed to try...1/2 of it :) The omelette is the one that makes the burger different as it has chicken floss in it. I think it could do with a little more floss, but if you bite into the burger slowly, you'll be able to taste the floss. If you rush through the burger, it'll just be "all in one" & you'll never get to taste/feel the floss. The grilled chicken is nicely seasoned with salt, pepper & oregano as well. Something rather different from the other grilled chicken burgers that I've come across. Feels "homey" somehow since that's how I marinate my chicken for grilling at times! :D

This was another burger that I managed to try (not the whole burger! just 1/4...haha). As I didn't know what Spanish omelette was, I thought the potato pieces were pineapples, when I had a surprise after biting into it! Potato!! I find it kinda weird as it was quite jelak since it's a burger + meat + cheese + egg + potatoes...acquired taste, I guess :)

Hawaii Style (RM15.00 nett/burger)

Deep-fried chicken, grilled pineapple, Parmesan egg

This was the another burger that I managed to try 1/4 of it. I didn't find a "wow" factor as the deep-fried chicken batter kinda put me off a little. Batter was slightly too thick in comparison with the chicken meat, and there wasn't an impact with the grilled pineapple to the burger. We've shared our opinion with the owners & they will be looking into getting the batter improved. Yay!

'Flaming'O (RM14.00 nett/burger)

Deep-fried chicken, Pimento cheese, salami, pepperoni

Didn't manage to try this, so can't comment much. But the batter concern still persists as mentioned above. This is supposedly a spicy burger *sizzle*

Chomp C+ (RM17.00 nett/burger)

Deep-fried chicken, cheese cream, ham, hashbrown

Most of us were excited upon seeing this burger. It looks yummy, but those who managed to sink their teeth into this burger felt that there was too much carbs/"flour" happening, especially with the hashbrown & thick-batter deep-fried chicken.

Beef Burgers:

Juicy Lucy (RM14.00 nett/burger)

Stuffed cheesy beef patty, pickles, caramelized onions

Another burger that I managed to try 1/4 of it...the one & only beef burger that I got to try...haha. I didn't really like the pickle as it's not like the McDonald's pickle. Big Chomp pickles it in-house, I'm quite sure, as the cucumber looks like fresh cucumbers, with it's already been soaked in vinegar! Burger patty was alright, but I found it having bits & pieces of tendon, which made my "burger enjoyment level" dropped. The bun, of course, was my favorite for this burger! :P

It's spicy, all right....cheesy too! Something I would like to try the next time I go there.

Chomp B+ (RM16.00 nett/burger)

Beef patty, cheese cream, beef bacon, hashbrown

Similar to the Chomp C+, which is a chicken variant. But I'm quite sure this one would taste better since it comes with bacon instead of ham!

The Beast (RM14.00 nett/burger)

Mustard beef patty, pickles, cheese, caramelized onions

I didn't get to try this as well, but the consistency of the burger buns' thickness is something that they have to further improve :)

Vegetarian Burgers:

Spicy Bella (RM14.00 nett/burger)

Grilled Portobello mushroom, cheese, grilled pineapple

Some experiments & improvements need to be done on the grilled Portobello as it needs to have its moisture sealed & locked in some nice batter. According to those who ate the veggie burger, there's a lacking of "umph" in the burger. It's not just the absence of the meat, but the juiciness & flavour of the mushroom.

Disclaimer: Reviews written are based solely on my personal opinion. I am not affiliated with any companies/restaurants and will not be responsible for any disappointments that occur. No part of this site or any of the content contained herein may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior permission from the publisher.